Infection Control Matters

The impact of TB on acute IPC Team workload

In this week's episode, Brett and Martin are joined by Professor Hilary Humphreys of the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland. They discuss a recent paper that quantifies the impact of TB work on an acute hospital IPC team workload

Public reporting of infection - perspectives of hospital leaders and clinicians

In this week's podcast, Brett and Phil discuss an article just published in the American Journal of Infection Control titled "Concerns and frustrations about the public reporting of device-related healthcare-associated infections: Perspectives of hospital leaders and staff".
The link to the article is here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35948123/
Other papers mentioned in this podcast:
Mary Dixon Woods study: What Counts? An Ethnographic Study of Infection Data Reported to a Patient Safety Program. Dixon-Woods, M. Leslie, J. Bion and C. Tarrant Milbank Quarterly 2012 Vol. 90 Issue 3 Pages 548-91
Phil Russo study: Consumer knowledge and attitudes toward public reporting of health care–associated infection data  Russo, P. Digby and T. Bucknall. American Journal of Infection Control 2019 Jun;47(6):656-660
 
 

Environmental sampling - do we know what we are doing?

In this week's episode Brett and Martin discuss a recent paper from the ESGNI (ESCMID Study Group for Nosocomial Infections) that looks at a survey of environmental sampling practrices in Europe. Are we more confident on our abilities than we should be? As ever, more questions and answers with this one. We also highlight a very useful paper published in JHI a couple of years aso (See below)
 
ESGNI Link -  https://www.escmid.org/research_projects/study_groups/study_groups_g_n/nosocomial_infections/
1. van der Schoor AS, et al. Environmental sampling practices of innate hospital surfaces. A need for guidance and consensus? A survey conducted by the ESCMID Study Group for Nosocomial Infections (ESGNI). J Hosp Infect. 2022.  https://doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2022.07.024  https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(22)00243-2/fulltext
2. Rawlinson S, et al. How to carry out microbiological sampling of healthcare environment surfaces? A review of current evidence. J Hosp Infect. 2019;103(4):363-374.  https://doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2019.07.015
 

Standardising IPC Programs with Bob Garcia

In this week's episode, Phil and Martin talk to Bob Garcia, microbiology-trained infection preventionist, about a recent collaborative expert paper published in the American Journal of Infection Control that suggested recommendations about the future of IPC practice.
Paper discussed is here:
1. Garcia R, et al. Recommendations for change in infection prevention programs and practice. Am J Infect Control. 2022.  https://doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2022.04.007

YouTube, Monkeypox and infection prevention and control

In this weeks podcast, Brett and Phil discuss an article titled "YouTube and 2022 Monkeypox outbreak: opportunities for awareness and infection control". We discuss the opportunities and challenges of YouTube and social media with regards to infection prevention and control communication and information.
Link to the article:
Ortiz-Martinez Y, et al. YouTube and 2022 Monkeypox outbreak: opportunities for awareness and infection control. J Hosp Infect. 2022.  https://doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2022.07.00 

Integrated, multi-specialty IPC teams - the future? With Dr David Weber

In this week's episode, Martin talks to Dr David Weber of  Uniiversity Hospitals South Carolina about his hospital's integrated IPC team which includes quality improvement and behaviour specialists as well as the more traditional membership. This discussion was prompted by a recent letter to Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
1. Weber DJ, et al. A new paradigm for infection prevention programs: An integrated approach. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2022:1-4.  https://doi:10.1017/ice.2022.94
2. Buchanan MO, et al. The compliance coach: A bedside observer, auditor, and educator as part of an infection prevention department's team approach for improving central line care and reducing central line-associated bloodstream infection risk. Am J Infect Control. 2019;47(1):109-111.  https://doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2018.06.005

IPC Team Experiences during COVID

Martin catches up with Phil Russo whilst at the APSIC meeting in Singapore and we discuss a recent paper that has looked at the experiences of IPC Teams in Australia during the pandemic. What went well and what wasn't quite so good. Links to the papers discussed are here.
1. Baswa A, et al. Experience and perspectives of infection prevention staff of the COVID-19 response in Australian hospitals. Antimicrob Resist Infect Control. 2022;11(1):77.  https://doi:10.1186/s13756-022-01116-9
2. McGuinness SL, et al. Mental Health Outcomes in Australian Healthcare and Aged-Care Workers during the Second Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(9).  https://doi:10.3390/ijerph19094951
3. McGuinness SL, et al. Mental Health Outcomes in Australian Healthcare and Aged-Care Workers during the Second Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(9).  https://doi:10.3390/ijerph19094951
4. Searby A, et al. The impact of COVID-19 on nurse alcohol consumption: A qualitative exploration. J Clin Nurs. 2022.  https://doi:10.1111/jocn.16467
4. COVICS Website https://www.monash.edu/medicine/covic-ha/home

VAP in the ’too difficult’ box - could VAE be the answer? with Dr Michael Klompas

In this week's episode, Martin talks to Dr Michael Klompas, Infectious Disease physician, Hospital Epidemiologist, and Professor of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, USA. We discuss the complexities of undertaking surveillance of Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and the USA approach to looking at the wider issue of Ventilator-associated Events (VAE) that removes subjectivity from the surveillance of these important complications. We also discuss the recent SHEA/IDSA/APIC/AMA prevention strategies paper that is the latest state of the art guidance on VAP/VAE prevention.
Useful reading here:
1. Klompas M, et al. Strategies to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia, ventilator-associated events, and nonventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia in acute-care hospitals: 2022 Update. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2022;43(6):687-713.  https://doi.org/10.1017/ice.2022.88
2. Weinberger JF, et al. Changes in the epidemiology of ventilator-associated events over the course of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2021:1-3. https://doi.org/10.1017/ice.2021.459
3. Klompas M. Ventilator-Associated Events: What They Are and What They Are Not. Respir Care. 2019;64(8):953-961.  https://doi.org/10.4187/respcare.07059
4. Klompas M. Ventilator-associated conditions versus ventilator-associated pneumonia: different by design. Curr Infect Dis Rep. 2014;16(10):430.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11908-014-0430-0
5. Klompas M, et al. Risk of misleading ventilator-associated pneumonia rates with use of standard clinical and microbiological criteria. Clin Infect Dis. 2008;46(9):1443-1446.  https://doi.org/10.1086/587103

Hidden reservoirs contribute to plasmid-mediated transmission with Dr Kalisvar Marimuthu

In this week's episode, Brett and Martin talk to Adjunct Assistant Prof Dr Kalisvar Marimuthu, who is currently a senior consultant in Infectious Diseases at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases and Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore. We discuss his recent paper that notes that over 50% of transmissions occurring in healthcare result from plasmid and not colonal spread. Traditional IPC interventions seem to work for clonal transmission, however new thinking is required to tackle the problems of plasmids.
Papers we discuss are:
1. Marimuthu K, Venkatachalam I, Koh V et al. Whole genome sequencing reveals hidden transmission of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales. Nat Commun 2022; 13: 3052. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9160272/ 2. Ng DHL, Marimuthu K, Lee JJ et al. Environmental colonization and onward clonal transmission of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) in a medical intensive care unit: the case for environmental hygiene. Antimicrob Resist Infect Control 2018; 7: 51. https://aricjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13756-018-0343-z
 

Glove or no glove - with Dr Jon Otter

In this week's episode, Brett and Martin caught up with Jon Otter to discuss the 'Glove or no glove' campaign currently being implemented at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals in London UK. Jon has recently blogged about this (https://reflectionsipc.com/2022/05/04/we-need-to-talk-about-gloves/), a blog always worth following if you like to read Jon's thoughts and musings on current issues in IPC.